First Blog

 On problem-solving at the dance hall.  The three sisters of modern thought and problem-solving are Deduction, Induction, and Abduction.   All recognize each is beautiful, very rich, but quite proper.   However, each is most different from the other.   They arrive at the ballroom, ready to dance. No time at all passes before partners line up for their favors. Deduction is a bit stilted on the dance floor but knows every step that follows the previous.   You will end up complete and correct. When the band stops, she will whisper QED in your ear. Induction needs much practice and many steps, but then finally knows the next step, and therefore full dance correctly and with rhythm. She can also dance backward. She could really dance all night. Abduction, if so inclined, will leap into your arms and teach you a few new dance steps you never dreamed of. You may not finish the dance, but you will know how to get there. When the music stops, she will disappear, almost as if floating away

  My heart talks to my mind, and my mind talks to my heart, and you know? They don't agree very much. This is one of the fundamental conflicts in human problem-solving. How many of us stumble along day after day listening to both, digging deeper and deeper into foggy confusion?  If you want clarity, you must insist on having it. Here we see analysis and emotions working at cross purposes.    Taking this a step further, we add that my soul gives me altogether different instructions, thus generating a three-way conflict between analysis, emotion, and beliefs. How some of us make it from day to day is miraculous. 

 How to understand why the USA has been at war in Afghanistan for twenty years and going  for more? Bang your head repeatedly against a brick wall until it no longer hurts.  Then you will know. 

  How many can balance their emotional and rational thoughts?   I cannot. I do know that when I think I can, this is mostly emotion.   When I think I can’t, this is more rational.   A new Paradox, perhaps.

  Everyone seems to think this pandemic will make big changes, especially in education. Not so. In education, most students need in person teaching*, partly because they can't read, and can't think, and can't focus, and can't evaluate. In business, those dreaming of an at-home career will be passed over for advancement. In social life, those dreaming of chat rooms will be chatting with themselves. A life of hiding will distort humanity in no good way I can think of. People want to get back to their lives, the lives they liked. People are outrageously social. * I can speak with authority as I've taught 20 years online courses.

  How is math used in everyday life? This is a big question requiring a big answer.   It is amazing at just how many uses are significant.   Math is everywhere, all the time, and constant as we move on.   Yet, few of us actually need to do any calculations beyond the basics. Knowing is has invaded almost everything is important to know.  A. Medicine. CAT scans and MRI scans require deep math at their basis. Modeling of DNA and sequencing of genes use much math. The origin was with SONAR, where the computer was the human brain, i.e. operator. It is well past that now. The mathematics is called tomography. It takes the scans and uses them to reconstruct the complex images within the brain or body. B. Transportation. Routing of vehicles (trucks and aircraft, etc) to maximize efficiency of costs use deep math. Involves one of the most difficult math problems called “The Traveling Salesman Problem.” It is still open, i.e. unsolved. C. Electronics. Use the math of all of electromagneti

  It’s all we ever hear these days.  But did you hear the one about the fellow who was thinking so far outside of the box he got lost ? It happens. Leave behind what you know for too long and you may never recover. So what is it, this thinking outside the box?   A brilliant insight at just the right moment?   A clever explanation served up quickly? A cowboy tap-dance on a difficult problem with the perfect solution, like from outta nowhere?   A new idea to treat some disease? A clever new routing strategy. Figuring who the criminal actually is? All of these? Basically, it is thinking beyond, differently, unconventionally, inferentially, intuitively, or creatively.   Albert Einstein begged the question with this: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." The “difficulty” happens because we are boxed-in.   The opportunity comes when thinking outside the box.   It has been suggested the term “outside the box” came from the nine-dot puzzle.   Connect all nine dots by

  You know you're an experienced (and good) math teacher when A. You can take a student from their attempt to solve the problem to the solution without starting over. B. classroom management issues are more of an annoyance than a source of anxiety. C. You haven't heard a new excuse in years. D. You know why algebra is quite difficult for some students to learn. E. you can teach the standards and the EOS test at the same time. F. You truly delight in seeing real talent, though it may exceed your own. G. You know what kind of problems that will stimulate most, even though the problem is challenging. H. You know Vacations from teaching are both needed and necessary. I. You still get excited at the beginning of a school year. J. You read a lot about math because you like it. K. You know when group work helps and when it doesn't. M. New math teachers come to you with their teaching problems. N. You know that the "A" students make you look good

  On the job, I wasted much time. In retirement, time is wasting me. 😉

 Geniuses are Remarkable There is an aspect of these geniuses which is rarely discussed. It is certain they all have marvelous minds, capable of a depth of thought unknown to us all. They have remarkable memories and a profound intuition and knowledge of what they do. There is more, beyond knowing all the literature, all the techniques, and all the skills. It is  concentration . In fact, Isaac Newton said, "I keep the subject constantly before me and wait till the first drawstrings open slowly, little and little, into a full and clear light." What all these geniuses could do is exactly that. They could focus their brains upon a problem for weeks, months, even years until it was resolved. This requires phenomenal energy which few have. But this concentration takes the mind into unknown realms and depths, and it changes them forever. When they emerge, they are different. And it can take time to catch up with themselves. Some never do. Others, fewer in number, can plow t

  The most powerful ally of courage is anonymity. This is provided to rioters in the streets but also to voters casting ballots.

 Questions. What on earth is luck?  Win the lottery and you're lucky; catch a cold and your unlucky. Yes? No? We all want good luck and dread bad luck.  But what is it? Luck, it turns out, has many meanings, and you can tell what you think by how you answer these questions.  Is there an answer key? Nope. 1.      Can you be walking around lucky and not know it?* 2.      Is luck a state or an event? 3.      Do lucky charms wear out?   4.      Is luck an influence or a success? 5.      Is luck a phenomenon or a condition? 6.      Is luck random or circumstantial? 7.      Is luck a superstition or real? 8.      Can you be born lucky? Or unlucky? 9.      Is luck spiritual or supernatural? 10. Does luck really favor the prepared mind?** * Wonderful line from the movie, “Let It Ride” ** Thomas Edison and others. Se also. https://wordpress.com/posts/usedideas.wordpress.com